


Harry Potter and The Universe In Which Petunia Is Actually A Decent Human Being

by SomeRandomDutchFangirl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (sadly), Animagus, Autistic Hermione Granger, Black Hermione Granger, Death to the author, Gen, Harry Potter AU, I hope at least, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Name-Calling, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Racism, Smart Kids, Verbal Abuse, Verbal Fighting, Yelling, also everyone's gonna be hella gay, also mcgonagall makes an entrance, and i dont trust jkr anymore, au in which Petunia is nice, author is autistic, author is white so i'd love to hear your opinions and sources to better write poc characters!, cuz representation matters, i'll try to put up as many trigger warnings but if i miss any pls tell me!, lgbtq teacher, nothing too bad, real world issues like global warming, tags are all over the place i apologize
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25716112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SomeRandomDutchFangirl/pseuds/SomeRandomDutchFangirl
Summary: When Petunia Dursley takes in Harry Potter, she does not expect to love him. He reminds her of her sister and her husband, both freaks from a world so unlike her own that it feels surreal. She takes him in, a boy with black unkempt hair, a lightning scar on his face and the green eyes of her sister, but she doesn't love him. That is, until she does. Watch out, wizarding world. Petunia is a fierce woman, and an even fiercer mother!
Relationships: Dudley Dursley & Harry Potter, Dudley Dursley & Hermione Granger, Dudley Dursley & Petunia Evans Dursley, Hermione Granger & Harry Potter, Petunia Evans Dursley & Harry Potter
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	Harry Potter and The Universe In Which Petunia Is Actually A Decent Human Being

**Author's Note:**

> Based of this pinterest post: https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/566327721895165179/comments/5083653905265513612 
> 
> Me: Okay so I have 7 other wips, lets work on those-  
> Brain: no hyperfixate on this  
> Me: why  
> Brain: just because
> 
> Hey everyone!  
> This is my first time writing a story like this and I'm so excited, please have fun reading it!  
> A quick reminder that my native language isn’t English, so if you spot any mistakes please tell me!  
> Also I’m putting trigger warnings in the tags as well as in the notes so here they are: verbal abuse, name-calling, verbal fighting, racism

When Petunia Dursley takes in Harry Potter, she does not expect to love him. He reminds her of her sister and her husband, both freaks from a world so unlike her own that it feels surreal. But she takes him in, a boy with black unkempt hair, a lightning scar on his face and the green eyes of her sister, but she doesn't love him. At first, she doesn't cuddle him like she does with Dudley, she doesn't kiss his forehead when she says goodnight, she doesn't buy cute clothes for him, and she doesn't take pictures of him. She does get him his shots, and feeds and changes him, and gets him some clothes, but that's about it. It's more than Vernon does, anyway.   
  
In the first few months after taking him in, whenever Petunia looked at Harry, all she could see were her sister's eyes, and her stomach would flip over and over. But as the months progressed, somehow, Harry's eyes became their own. Harry was her nephew, not her sister's shadow to be treated like a freak. And slowly, Harry got more cuddles, and more goodnight kisses, and more and better clothes. When Vernon mentioned it to her one evening, she shrugged. "It's not as if he's getting spoiled for it. Every child needs a healthy amount of attention, and you wouldn't want him to be more of a freak then he already is, would you?" The words left a sour taste on her mouth and a heavy feeling on her stomach. Vernon murmured something in agreement. 

  
When they celebrated Dudley's second birthday, he received far too many gifts for a two-year-old to possibly play with. Vernon got him a big toy car which Dudley loved. He and Harry would often sit on the ground, swarmed by other gifts, playing with it and making car noises to the best of their abilities. When Harry's birthday came around, all Vernon got him was a fast food meal with toy parts he could choke on. Maybe that was Vernon's intention. But it didn't matter, because as soon as Petunia saw what he had gotten Harry, she started arguing with him.   
  
‘'Why,’' Petunia said, displeasure clear in her voice, ‘'did you buy that for him?’' 

Vernon scoffed. ‘'It’s not like anyone would care if the brat would choke on it.’' 

A beat of silence. Then Petunia’s voice pierced through, quiet but deadly. ‘'What did you say?’' 

Vernon crosses his arms. ‘'Come on, the child is a freak, just like his parents!’' 

‘'What did you just say about my sister?’' Petunia yelled, furious. How dare he talk about her sister like that. Sure, she may be bitter because Lily was always better, Lily could do nothing wrong, but she still was her sister, and no one insulted her. Not on her watch. 

‘'I said, he’s a freak, just like his parents!’' Vernon repeated, now yelling. He took a step forward. ‘'Are you deaf or something?’' 

But Petunia could barely hear him above the ringing in her ears. He insulted Harry, insulted her sister... how long before he insulted her and Dudley too? Or worse, hit them? 

‘'I heard you perfectly fine,’' she bit back after a moment of awkward silence. “However, why you think it would be okay to neglect a child is above me. Do you have no human decency?” 

“Please, that boy is hardy human,” Vernon scoffed. Petunia clenched her fists. _The nerve_. 

“How could you say that?!” Petunia shrieked, furious. 

“How can't I? That boy is a monster, and he needs to learn his place!” Vernon bellowed. 

“Oh really? Then what about me, since I'm related to him!” Petunia said defensively. 

“You know I didn’t mean you, you're not a freak like him!” Vernon said. “I'll tell you what, we get rid of him-" 

“No way!” Petunia yelled, enraged. ‘'What is wrong with you?’' 

‘Oh, nothing is wrong with _me_ ,’' Vernon said, sickingly sweet. ‘'However, that boy is causing you to be this way. Don't you see it? He's luring you in, like a siren, and then, when the time is right-’' 

‘'That is sick! Harry is doing no such thing!’' Petunia cried. “I cannot believe I didn't see sooner what kind of guy you are!’' 

“Extremely charming, and firm in my beliefs?” Vernon asked. 

“An asshole who only cares about himself!” Petunia shrieked, beyond done with this. 

Vernon became very white and then, in a matter of seconds, very red. “Oh, is that so?” he asked, mockingly. “Then why don't I act more like it?” He started stalking towards Petunia, who quickly regretted saying that and now was taking steps backwards. 

“Go away!” she yelled, voice wavering. 

“Why would I? I only act in my own interests, right?” The smile on his face wasn't just creepy, it was horrifying. 

“I’ll go! I'll get out of here and you'll never see me again, Vernon please!” Petunia pleaded. _This is it, he’s going to kill me._

Vernon suddenly lunged towards her. While stepping back to avoid him, she noticed Harry and Dudley were still in the living room. She lunged towards the door that lead to the hallway and ran up the stairs. Grabbing two bags, she shoved some clothes, extra cash, and other necessaries in it. Then she did the same for Dudley and Harry. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins. 

“Come back here, bitch!” she heard Vernon yell, before she heard the stairs creak. Her heart stopped momentarily, before she resumed the activity, hands frantically grabbing clothes and putting them in the bags. 

Just as she finished packing, she heard Vernon coming up the last step. She quickly ducked behind the big closet, afraid what he'd do if he saw her. Her mind was working at 100 miles per hour. She was in the boys' room, the second closest room to the stairs. If Vernon would check their room first, she could try to escape. 

She didn’t dare make a sound as Vernon's footsteps sounded on the floor, trying to decide which room to check first. Luck was on her side, it seemed, as he walked towards their room. Petunia waited until she was sure he really was in the room, before grabbing the bags, opening the door, and dashing down the stairs. Dropping the bags at the door, she ran into the living room to get Harry and Dudley. They were looking at her with big eyes, clearly scared. She took both of them in her arms, praying she wouldn't run into Vernon again. _Highly unlikely_. She walked into the hallway, grabbing their coats and making sure the boys were secure in her arms. Grabbing the bags would be difficult now, luckily they were backpacks. 

“Found you, bitch,” Vernon suddenly said. Her blood ran cold in her veins. _How long had he been standing there?_

“You weren't trying to run away, were you?” he asked, voice sickingly sweet. 

“I-“ she started, but she didn't get to finish her sentence. Vernon lunched forward, grabbing her by her throat and pushing her against the wall. She clawed at his hands, trying to get them away from her throat, she needed to _breath_. She saw black spots dancing in her vision, and Vernon's victorious smile, and she heard Dudley screech from where she had dropped the boys in shock. 

Then, Harry let out a deafening screech, and Vernon went flying away from her by an invisible force. Petunia fell to the ground, taking deep breaths to try to get her breathing back to normal. 

After he got up from being thrown into the wall, Vernon exploded. ‘'I do not want that... that _monster_ here! It needs to go!’' he grabbed Harry and stomped towards the door. 

“Then me and Dudley will go too!” she said, as she got Dudley and the bags. Taking Harry on her arms too, she walked out of number four Privet Drive, never to return. 

Five months later, divorce papers were signed. Petunia got full custody over Harry and Dudley. And that’s where our story begins. 

* * *

‘'Aunt Tune,’' the now four-year-old Harry Potter said quietly, ‘'I think the eggs are burning.’' 

Biting back a curse not meant for any four-year-old, Petunia turned back to the breakfast she was making for Harry and Dudley. It was a celebration after all; today was their first day of school. 

Dudley walked into the room, stifling a yawn beneath his hand. ‘'Morning, Mum,’' he said gruffly. ‘'Morning, Dudley,’' Harry said cheerfully, always being the more awake one in the morning. 

Putting the plates with slightly burned eggs on them, Petunia turned to face the boys. ‘'Are you excited for your big day today?’' 

Harry, while munching on his eggs, nodded excitedly. Dudley also nodded along enthusiastically, or as enthusiastically as he could at 7 a.m. 

‘'Ah ‘ope da opher kibs awe nife-’' Harry started to say, but got cut off by Petunia. 

‘'Swallow your food first, Harry,’' Petunia chided gently. 

‘'I hope the other kids are nice!’' the four-year-old repeated. ‘'So we can have lots of fun!’' 

Petunia smiled at that. ‘'Well, I’m sure the other kids are nice. What about you, Dudley? What do you look forward to the most?’' 

Dudley, while chewing and swallowing, wore a look of utmost concentration at the question. After a couple of seconds, he simply said, ‘'Everything.’' 

‘'Let’s get ready, then. We wouldn’t w00000ant to be late, do we?’' 

Both boys scrambled to put their plates in the sink and get ready for school. 

‘'Don’t forget your bags! Do you have everything? Lunch, drinks-?’' 

‘'Mom, can you help me tie my shoes?’' Dudley interjected. 

‘'Of course, sweetheart,’' Petunia said, ‘'Look, you’ve got to cross them, then make a knot, put one of the ends around your finger and then put the other end through it.’' It was never too early to learn something, after all. 

Dudley, brow furrowed in concentration, looked at what she was doing. When she’d tied his other shoe, Harry came running in. 

‘'Come on, we’re going to be late! Hurry up!’' 

How he could be so energetic this early in the morning was a mystery to Petunia, but it was adorable, nonetheless. 

‘'Remember to put on your coats!’' she called after the two boys who were racing to the front door. After that, she locked the door of the apartment behind them and walked to her car. 

Driving them to school was uneventful. However, once she had parked the car, Harry immediately got distracted. ‘'Cat! Aunt Tune, look, a cat! Come here, kitty!’' 

‘'Harry, don’t pet it. You don’t know where it’s been. It doesn’t even have a collar,’' Petunia tried to get the boy away from the cat. As she said the last part, the cat looked extremely offended. Petunia didn’t even know cats could look so offended. 

‘'But Auntie, doesn’t it look pretty! Do you think we can get a cat too?’' Harry prodded at the cat and was making ‘'pspsps’' sounds now. Petunia did have to admit, the cat’s pattern was fabulous, if a bit peculiar. It was a tabby cat with square spectacles markings around its eyes. 

‘'I’ll consider it. But it’s a lot of work to care for an animal. Now come along, you don’t want to be late and miss out on making friends, right?’' 

Immediately, Harry perked up and started running towards the gates of the school. ‘'Race you, Dudley! First to the gate wins!’' 

‘'That’s not fair, you got a head start!’’ yelled Dudley, who took off after Harry anyway. 

* * *

After having said goodbye to Petunia, Harry and Dudley entered the classroom. The chairs were put in a circle, with multiple children already sitting on some chairs. 

‘'Welcome! I’m Mx. Smith, please take a seat!’' their teacher said. She had long, brown hair, but the ends of it were blue. She had brown eyes and wore glasses. She also wore a t-shirt with some logo on it and black pants. She didn’t look how Harry had imagined a teacher, nor how Aunt Tune had described them, but she sounded nice. 

‘'Mx?’' Dudley asked, equally confused as Harry. 

‘'I’ll explain in a minute,’' Mx. Smith told them. 

Both boys walked over to a chair, having promised to sit next to each other. Once all kids had come in and taken a seat, Mx. Smith stood at the front of the class and started talking. 

‘'Welcome everyone! I'm sure you’re all very excited to be here, and want to introduce yourselves and make some friends, but before that I wanted to introduce myself! As I told you, I’m Mx. Smith. I'm 26 years old, and I enjoy reading and making music. I'm sure you’re all confused about the ‘Mx’ part, so let me tell you about it! I'm non-binary, which means that I’m not a boy but also not a girl.’' 

‘'But how can you not be a boy or a girl?’' a black girl with bushy, brown hair shouted from her seat. 

Their teacher thought for a bit. ‘'Here, let me try to explain it clearer,’' she said, while drawing two circles on the board, which overlapped each other in the middle. In the left circle, she wrote ‘'boy’'. In the right circle, she wrote ‘'girl’'. 

‘'This is probably what you think someone can be, right? Someone's either a boy or a girl. That's their gender. But some people don’t feel completely like a boy or a girl. Or they don’t feel like a boy or a girl at all, or they feel something different than a boy or a girl. In this case, you can be non-binary, you feel like neither a boy nor a girl. Or you can be genderfluid, in which you feel like a boy, a girl, or neither, but it depends on the day. There are more terms, but I will leave it at this for now. Do you understand so far?’' A moment of silence followed, broken by some kids mumbling ‘'yes’' and others just nodding. Mx. Smith smiled. ‘'Okay, if you have any questions, just ask them.’' 

‘'Now, let’s say the overlapping piece in the middle of these circles is the non-binary part. That's what I am.’' 

‘'But, aren’t you both a boy and a girl then?’' one of the boys asked. Mx. Smith shook her head. 

‘'Not necessarily. It can also be its own circle, away from these two circles.’' As she said it, she drew another circle away from the two circles and put ‘'non-binary'' in the circle. ‘'See? It can be many things, but it doesn’t always mean ‘boy’ or ‘girl’. Do you understand now?’' The boy nodded. 

‘'Good. Now then, on to the pronouns! You probably think boy means ‘he’ and girl means ‘she’, right? If someone looks like a girl, you use ‘she’ and ‘her’.’' Mx. Smith wrote ‘she/her’ under ‘girl’ and ‘he/him’ under ‘boy’. The class nodded. ‘'Now, most non-binary people don’t use ‘she’ or ‘him’. Some do, but not everyone. Most other non-binary people use ‘they’ and ‘them’, in the same way you’d use ‘she’ and ‘he’.’' Mx. Smith wrote ‘they/them’ beneath the non-binary circle. 

‘'But how do you use that?’' Dudley asked. 

‘'Well,’’ Mx. Smith said, ‘'You replace the ‘she’ or ‘him’ in a sentence with ‘they’. The same with ‘her’ and ‘him’, but with ‘them’.’' 

‘'Isn’t that for multiple people?’' the same girl with the bushy hair asked. 

‘'Well, when you’re talking about multiple people, then yes. But if you’re talking about just one non-binary person, then you also use it. I’ll give some examples. Instead of saying, ‘She is playing with the dog’, you say ‘They is playing with the dog'. Or, ‘He’s drinking his juice’ becomes ‘They is drinking their juice’. You understand so far?’' 

As the class nodded again, Mx. Smith clearly brightened. ‘'Very good! Then, what do you think ‘He is drawing’ will be?’' 

As murmurs rose from the thinking four-year-olds, Harry turned to Dudley. ‘'What do you think?’' 

‘'I think it’s a bit hard at first-’' 

‘'I meant, what do we replace ‘he’ with? Although you’re right,’' Harry made a thinking face. 

‘'In that case, I think ‘they’ would replace he,’' Dudley murmured. 

‘'Probably. So then it’d be-’' 

‘'They are drawing!’' a boy yelled. 

‘'Isn’t it ‘They is drawing’?’' Harry asked. Mx. Smith nodded. 

‘'In this case, ‘They is drawing’ is better than ‘They are drawing’, because ‘they are’ is about multiple people, and with ‘they is’ you are talking about only one person.’' 

The boy made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth. ‘'That makes sense.’' 

Mx. Smith nodded their head. ‘'It does, doesn’t it? Now, let’s practice for a bit longer, shall we?’' 

* * *

Practicing and more explaining took until they had a small break, in which they could eat some snacks and drinks and then play outside. While Dudley and Harry were talking and playing near the sandbox, the black girl with the bushy hair came up to the two of them. She thrusted her hand forward and stated: ‘'I’m Hermione Granger.’' 

Harry took her hand. ‘'Harry Evans. Nice to meet you!’' 

After Dudley shook her hand and introduced himself, Hermione sat down next to them. ‘'What’re you doing?’' she asked. 

‘'Well, we’re just making some figures in the sand and talking a bit, creating a story around it. Do you want to join us?’' 

Hermione nodded. ‘'Of course. What’s the story so far?’' 

As they caught her up to the story, they failed to see some upperclassmen walk up to them. Once they stopped in front of the trio, they noticed them and looked up. 

‘'Uh, hi-’' Harry started to say, but was quickly cut off. 

‘'Why,’ one of the upperclassmen drawled, ‘'are you sitting with _her_.’' 

Something about the way the other said ‘her’ didn’t sit right with Harry. ‘'What do you mean, she’s our friend-’' 

‘'Yeah, right. You, being friends with-’' 

‘'Oi! Jamie, leave the kids alone!’' a girl with a foreign accent called over to them. 

‘'Shut up, Isabella!’' the boy, Jamie, shouted back. Isabella stood up and walked over to them. ‘'Jamie, I told you to leave the kids alone,’' she said. Jamie opened his mouth to respond, only to be cut off by Isabella again. ‘'Whatever you’re gonna say next, you best think it through.’' This quickly made him close his mouth and walk off, his friends following him. Isabella rubbed at her face and mumbled something to herself. Then, she faced the trio still sitting on the sandbox. ‘'I'm sorry about him,’' she started, then reconsidered. ‘'Actually, scratch that, I’m not sorry about him, he’s a racist idiot. If he ever bothers you again, go to a teacher or come to me, okay?’' 

The trio nodded. ‘'Thank you,’' said Hermione. 

‘'No problem, kid,’' replied Isabella. 

“Can I ask something?” Dudley asked. Isabella nodded encouragingly. “What does “racist" mean?” 

Isabella sat down. “Racist means that a person bullies and insults another person for their race,” she explained. Dudley looked confused. 

“Race?” he asked. Isabella nodded. 

“Where people are from. For example, I come from Spain, so I’m Spanish. My race is hispanic. Some people don't like the fact that people are from different races, and they act mean because of that.” The trio nodded in understanding. 

“But why would anyone do that?” Harry asked, surprise and confusion colouring his voice. Isabella shrugged. 

“I dunno, kid. The world is a sick and twisted place.” 

“But the world doesn't look sick! How can we help it?” Hermione asked worriedly. 

Isabella shook her head. “I didn't mean it literally. I meant that the world can be a mean place sometimes. And I'm sure you will learn more about helping the world once you're older.” 

“But I don't want to wait!” Harry said. 

“How can we help make it better if we don't learn about it now?” Dudley agreed. Isabella smiled. _Smart_ _and stubborn_ _kids_. 

“Well, you could start by cleaning up your trash, and sort it by paper, plastic and organic stuff, stuff that comes out of the earth. Like food.” 

The trio nodded wisely at her words. “Thank you,” Hermione said. Isabella smiled. 

“No problem! Altough I’d get going if I were you. The bell just rang.’' 

The trio nodded again and walked off to their class. ‘'Are you alright, Hermione?’' asked Harry. She nodded, then shrugged. ‘'I will be. Thanks, at least, for not abandoning me back there.’' 

Both boys looked at her, horrified. ‘'Why would we do that? You're our friend!’' 

Hermione smiled. _Friends_. Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad. 

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how the English (British) school system works, so sorry for any inaccuracies. For this chapter I used my own primary school experiences - with the way things work, like the lay-out at least, I couldn’t find anything about it online – but if anyone went to a school in England please enlighten me on how things work! 
> 
> Also non-binary teacher cuz why not? We need more representation dammit. (I also intentionally misgendered Mx. Smith at the beginning, since this is from the perspective of a four-year-old, and I don’t think many kids that age know anything about the lgbtq+ community, unless they grew up with it maybe. I still feel pretty bad about it though.) 
> 
> Did I explain a venn diagram in the hardest way possible? Yes I did. Why? Well Harry doesn’t know what a venn diagram is yet, does he? 
> 
> Halfway through my explanation of Mx. Smith, I realized probably none or almost none of these kids can read at the age of four. I let it in anyway, since I think just the circles can be clear enough and they would probably be able to at least see the words and file it away for future reference. I hope. 
> 
> Also autistic, black Hermoine? Heck yes. I really do hope I wrote her right... if you see any problems in my writing regarding anything (representation, grammar, dealing with racism, etc.) please tell me! I'd also love to hear your experiences (or any sources yosu may have) so I can understand the characters I’m writing better! 
> 
> My tumblrs are @somerandomdutchfangirl (main blog) and @somerandomdutchartist (art/fic blog)


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